MEET THE PANELISTS

This conference would not be possible without our speakers.

PLEN4 Leader Reflections & Calls to Action

  • Robert Hirokawa, DrPH

    Robert Hirokawa currently serves as the CEO for the Hawaii PCA, a position he has held since 2011. Prior to his work at the HPCA, Robert served as the epidemiologist for the Hawaii Department of Health’s diabetes and asthma programs, and the Healthy Hawaii Initiative. Robert earned his MPH in epidemiology and DrPH from the University of Hawaii.

  • Cheryl Vasconcellos

    Cheryl Vasconcellos has been the Executive Director of Hana Health since 1997. She is the past CEO of Planned Parenthood of Hawaii (thirteen years) and has worked in Hawaii’s non-profit sector for almost forty years. Cheryl began her career working with non-profit organizations as a VISTA volunteer placed with the Maui United Way. She has worked with several Maui organizations over many years including Kokua Services, Lokahi Pacific, Maui Hui Malama, Aloha House, Maui Special Learning Center and several others groups in both staff and consultant capacities. She serves on the Board of Directors of AlohaCare Health Plan, a local, non-profit health plan founded in 1994 by Hawaii’s Community Health Centers and the third-largest health plan in Hawaii. She is the past-president of the Hawaii Primary Care Association representing fourteen federally qualified health centers throughout the state. Cheryl attended Wayne State University in Michigan, and Hilo College and Chaminade University in Hawaii, studying Sociology and Business.

  • Sheri Daniels, EdD, CSAC

    Dr. Sheri-Ann Daniels is the chief executive officer of Papa Ola Lōkahi, the Hawaiian health board, which provides oversight of the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program and five Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems that provide direct primary, dental and mental health services, outreach, enrollment and health promotion across seven islands. As co-chair of the Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Hawai‘i COVID-19 Response, Recovery & Resilience Team (NHPI 3R), she continues to convene more than 60 public and private partners around emergent health response & recovery, data collection, policy and community outreach.

    Born and raised on Maui, Dr. Daniels is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools. She holds degrees in counseling psychology, has several license certifications, and more than 25 years of experience in social service programs across Hawai‘i in both non-profit and government sectors. She is actively involved in various community organizations on Maui, including Hawaiian language education. Among her many recognitions is the 2022 Pacific Business News’ Women Who Mean Business. She recently was elected Chairperson for the U.S. Office of Minority Health’s Advisory Committee on Minority Health. Dr. Daniels is committed to raising the health status of Native Hawaiians and the broader community through strategic partnerships, public policy and programs, workforce development and leadership, and investing in traditional knowledge and community-based initiatives.

  • Judy Mohr Peterson, PhD

    Judy Mohr Peterson, PhD, is the Medicaid Director for Hawaii and a nationally recognized leader in health care delivery system reform and Medicaid policy. She served as president of the board of the National Association of Medicaid Directors from 2017-2019. She began her career with Oregon’s Medicaid program in 1997 and served as Oregon’s Medicaid Director from 2009 to 2015. In that role she was one of the architects of Oregon’s successful health system transformation. Before working for the Oregon Medicaid program, Dr. Mohr Peterson received her doctoral degree in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin.

  • Aimee Malia Grace, MD, MPH, FAAP

    Aimee Malia Grace, MD, MPH, FAAP directs strategic health initiatives for the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) System. At UH, Dr. Grace leads the UHealthy Hawaiʻi Initiative to leverage the UH System to improve health and health care in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. Dr. Grace is Principal Investigator for the UH Rural Health Research and Policy Center as well as co-Principal Investigator for the UH Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity. Dr. Grace is a pediatrician by background and previously worked as health policy advisor for U.S. Senator Brian Schatz in Washington, D.C. for three years, where she led legislative and appropriations efforts on telehealth, Native Hawaiian Health, tobacco to 21, Medicaid buy-in, public health preparedness, and more. Dr. Grace was educated and trained at Stanford University for her human biology degree; the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine for her medical degree; Stanford Children’s Hospital for her pediatrics residency; Harvard School of Public Health for her Master of Public Health degree; and Children’s National Health System for her General Academic Pediatrics fellowship.

  • Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP

    Kyu (“Q”) Rhee, MD, MPP, joined NACHC in 2023 to lead efforts to advance health equity and support the mission of community health centers, which provide high-quality, affordable, transdisciplinary primary care services to more than 31.5 million people at over 14,000 sites across the nation.

    As a purpose-driven physician executive, scientist, teacher, and entrepreneur, Dr. Rhee has a reputation synonymous with leadership, innovation, and transformation across the nonprofit, public, and private sectors. Throughout his career, Dr. Rhee has actively worked to advance primary care, public health, and health equity for underserved populations.

    Before joining NACHC, Dr. Rhee held the position of Senior Vice President and Aetna Chief Medical Officers at CVS Health. He led a team of over 1,500 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other health professionals in the integration and delivery of clinical and population health solutions to improve the health and delivery of the “Quintuple Aim” for up to 65 million people via commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, behavioral health, digital health, student health, vision, dental, and voluntary health plans. Dr. Rhee served for a decade as the Chief Health Officer at IBM, where he and his team led IBM’s global efforts to transform health using data, analytics, artificial intelligence, services, and research.

    During the time of the Affordable Care Act, Dr. Rhee held the office of Chief Public Health Officer at the Health Resources and Services Administration. Dr Rhee also worked at the National Institutes of Health as the Director of Innovation and Program Coordination.

    Prior to his public service, Dr. Rhee was the Chief Medical Officer at Baltimore Medical System and worked as a National Health Services Corps primary care physician and Medical Director for Unity Health Care.

    Dr. Rhee was Chief Resident and completed his medical residency training in both internal medicine and pediatrics at Cedars-Siani Medical Center in Los Angeles with dual board certification. He earned his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and also holds a master’s in health care policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Yale University in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry